Japan’s SBI Holdings Claims 40% Stake in Hardware Wallet Company

Posted by Jamie Redman on Mar 06, 2018

This week the Japanese financial services management group SBI Holdings has announced that it has acquired 40 percent of the Taiwanese digital currency hardware wallet startup Coolbitx. Over the past few months, SBI has been entrenched within the virtual currency industry as the bank plans to incorporate multiple types of cryptocurrency business models.

SBI Holdings Purchases Taiwanese Hardware Wallet Manufacturer

Japan’s Strategic Business Innovator Group (SBI) is a financial services company launched in 1999 and is headquartered in Tokyo. Over the past year or more the banking firm SBI has increased its interest and ownership of businesses that have a focus on cryptocurrency solutions. This past October news.Bitcoin.com reported on SBI investing in eight types of crypto-related business models including hedge funds, derivatives, remittance, storage, exchange platforms, and mining. Now earlier this week SBI revealed it has purchased a large portion of a Taiwanese hardware wallet company called Coolbitx.

SBI Aims to Further Enhance Security

Coolbitx and the ‘Coolwallet’ has been around since 2015 and introduced a hardware wallet that looks like a credit card by utilizing near-field-communication (NFC) and Bluetooth technology. The card pairs with a phone in order to initiate the transfer of funds such as litecoin, bitcoin core, ripple, and ethereum. When the company launched the card, the startup’s founder, Michael Ou explained, “Our wallet gives you the convenience of a credit card, but with a better security.” SBI believes hardware wallet technology is important to the bank’s research and development in the digital currency environment.

“We have been looking for security sophistication by capturing advanced technologies of external companies in addition to thorough risk management within the company, making the protection of customer assets the top priority,” SBI’s translated Coolbitx purchase announcement details.

In the future, while considering Coolbitx’s technology utilization, we aim to further enhance security.

SBI Now Commands 40 percent Ownership of the Coolbitx Company

SBI says the business move is meant to meet the needs of the company’s investors while aiming to establish a robust “ecosystem” with virtual currency related businesses. The Japanese finance firm says Coolbitx’s wallet has received positive attention due to the recent cryptocurrency exchange hacks. SBI believes that Coolwallet’s card feature and its connectivity with both iOS and Android operating systems will be something cryptocurrency proponents will utilize for a hardware wallet solution.

“SBI Group’s ownership in Coolbitx will be 40% as a result of this investment,” SBI emphasizes.

What do you think about SBI Holdings investing in a hardware wallet startup? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via SBI Holdings, Coolbitx, and Pixabay.

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